Yes, very interesting history. In the US it was popularly about tea, but in Australia about gold, but still the same old thing of the empire fleecing the colonies. That hotel looks lovely. But “capricious” bathrooms where, I assume, one would never know what will happen when operating the spigots, turning on the shower, flushing the toilet, etc., might knock a star or two from the rating.

In belated and somewhat toe shuffling defence of the realm, it never really mattered what nationality the protagonists of exploitation were. It was just coincidence, at the time, that some Brits were especially well versed in capitalism and were greedy beyond all reason. Roll forward a century and replace imperial nation with exploitative mining corporation (RTZ?) to see how democracy and independence can pan out (excuse the pun) in the longer term. Thanks for the history lesson. I'd heard of Ballarat but never learned of its place in the development of Australian nationhood. I can really see how the remnants of the original Southern Cross constitute an almost holy relic.

To be fair to the British, these were typically actions being conducted by the british colonial government (Australia didn't have its own government at the time, and it was this event that triggered that to eventually happen) and not so much the british people per-se as a nation.